Ceiling tiles, are they Asbestos?

Dylan123 · 16 Nov 2019

Howdy,

I’ve just bought a house and my wife is currently expecting her first. I’m about to decorate the baby room and I see the tiles we have may be asbestos. I’ve sent off for test kits for the tile and adhesive between the tiles.

It’s hard to the touch. I’d guess this was late 70s early 80s. The house is 30s but this room was obviously updated.

other then being super careful taking these samples, any observations on my ceiling or tips? It it is asbestos, do I disturb and remove it? Help please.

Dylan123 · 16 Nov 2019

There’s an odd set of lights, might give an idea when this was put in

sircerebus666 · 16 Nov 2019

If it is asbestos then you don't touch and you call in the professionals who will remove and dispose of it safely.

If it's not , those rules still need removing as they are a major fire hazard.

Given that light looks like it's from the 70s I would suggest getting a spark to look at your wiring too....

sircerebus666 · 16 Nov 2019

Rules? Bloody auto correct I meant tiles!

reds42 · 17 Nov 2019

Look like polystyrene ceiling tiles, stripped ones like that from my parents house which had been just glued on with wallpaper paste.

^woody^ · 17 Nov 2019

Why didn't you have a survey done before you purchased? That would stop all the worry.

pilsbury · 18 Nov 2019

Polystyrene ceiling tiles. No asbestos. Poke one with your finger and you’ll see how soft it is.

These would have been stuck up in the 60/70s because they were fashionable and to cover cracked lath and plaster ceilings. They burn like billio if you were to have a house fire so ideally need removing. Thing is that after removal you’ll need to board the ceiling as it will now be covered in crap adhesive as well as cracked.

I have the same lovely ceilings but just decided to board straight over.

reds42 · 18 Nov 2019

After I stripped them and did a very quick light sand to get any little bits of polystyrene off I put lining paper up over my parents ceiling . Finish was good.

Can get a shell like coating over the top of the tiles if they have been painted a few times which may make them seem hard, but they aren't.

Thomasthepiperson · 14 Feb 2020

Its good to see that people are starting to think asbestos when doing DIY. The amount of builders and DIY workers, which smash into walls without a second thought

paulandfrodo · 16 Feb 2020

After a little search, if you're still unsure, you could send of a sample to tests it. I found these guys :-

https://www.asbestos-testing-uk.com/

£29

oldbutnotdead · 17 Feb 2020

Those polystyrene tiles were dirt cheap and really easy to stick up (yes with wallpaper paste). The emulsion everyone used to paint them with did make it harder to set them on fire (we found after the kitchen fire in 1973).

roche · 27 Nov 2023

From memory it tends to be the adhesive on polystyrene tiles which can contain asbestos. Best thing to do would be to get it tested using an asbestos testing kit or similar. Ive used https://www.asbestos-sampling.com in the past.

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Ceiling tiles, are they Asbestos?

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